Adrian Love

Adrian Love (born 3 August 1944 in York – 10 March 1999[1]) was a British radio presenter, remembered for his Love in the Afternoon programme on BBC Radio 2. He was the son of musician Geoff Love.

Early life

Love attended Tottenham Grammar School. Before beginning his radio career, he worked for Burton tailors and as a song plugger in Soho.

Career

Love began his radio career in 1966 working for the pirate station Radio City on the Shivering Sands Army Fort. He moved ashore with a stint on the BBC Light Programme, which led to work on the BBC World Service.

In the early 1970s, he became station manager at United Biscuits Network, an internal radio station serving the factories of United Biscuits. Due to the lack of commercial radio in the UK at the time, the station became known for breaking new acts. While there he recruited Roger Scott and Graham Dene, with whom he later worked at Capital Radio, and gave Dale Winton and Steve Allen their radio breaks.

The launch of commercial radio in 1973 led him to move to LBC and then to Capital Radio, where he stayed for eight years, presenting an evening phone-in programme, Anna and the Doc, with agony aunt Anna Raeburn.

BBC Radio

In 1981, he returned to the BBC, presenting programmes on Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 4. In 1982 he was sacked from his award-winning show on Radio 1 for broadcasting while drunk.[2] He later spoke of his alcoholism, and occasionally shared experiences with listeners.

Five years after being sacked from Radio 1, he returned once more to the BBC in 1987 working for Radio 2, initially presenting the daily afternoon show Love in the Afternoon. He was dropped from the schedule in 1990, but continued to present documentaries and special shows for the station such as Time Cycle and Pop Score. He also deputised for other presenters, including Ken Bruce and Sarah Kennedy, before leaving the station in 1994.

Later career

Other stations he worked at included BFBS, 102.2 Jazz FM and Classic FM.

While at Classic FM he was Chancellor of the Oblique University, from which listeners could get a degree. The requirement was to apply for a research grant for something ephemeral, such as why a cup handle ends up at the back in a microwave, or to submit a basic truth such as "Women do not change their minds, they make further decisions." An A4 certificate was awarded to listeners whose submissions he read out. There were between 50 and 100 awarded.

Love spent his last four years as a presenter at BBC Southern Counties Radio.

Death

In December 1997, he was injured in a car crash from which he never recovered, succumbing to a collapsed lung over a year later. He left a wife and three children.

References
  1. "Veteran DJ Love dies". BBC News. 10 March 1999. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
  2. Obituary, The Independent newspaper


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